


Ceasefire Hole

by AlleyCat124



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-06-30 11:34:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19852336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlleyCat124/pseuds/AlleyCat124
Summary: Sometimes I tell someone else’s stories, sometimes I’ll tell my own. But that’s what happens when you come across my store, The Ceasefire Hole, a place where no matter who you are or what you are, you can have just a few moments of peace before you have to rejoin the real world. As long as you abide by my rules, everyone is welcome. There needs to be somewhere where you can forget your troubles and be as close to normal as you can be. This is a place where stories are discovered. Stories of the Wasteland.orA series of one-shots centered around a girl named Alley Mills who wants nothing more than to go about her life peacefully......if she could.





	1. The Shaking Gun

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Fallout series and I would love tips and thoughts on it. You can read them out of order. There isn't gonna be a chronological order of events and if there are in the future, I swear I'll say something.  
> This actually made me happy because I haven't written in a long time and I'm hoping this inspiration will help me continue my other works. Thank you!

“I don’t see how you can share what you have after what I did...” The man sat sullenly staring at the rad roach I cooked up for him. 

“Stop beating yourself over it.” I gruffed out while I attempted to make another knife. “I pointed a gun at you!” He exclaimed as he turned towards me. “With all due respect, sir, I hardly call THAT a gun.” I retorted, indicated to the beat-up plastic gun in his belt. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as I stared out in front of me. 

I sat on the front porch of my beat-up shack overlooking the great expanse of wood and plains. In my quaint front yard was two children. The older child, who’ve I learned was named Lucas, was about 12 years old. He was smiling with my three-legged kitten, Lola, on his lap while his little sister, Maya, was playing with my collie named Charlie. I couldn’t help but smile. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen any children; much less any of them with a smile on their face. I looked to my left at the dad, and from the expression on his face, he agreed with me. 

It was different from the face he was making before. But I guess it’s hard to make a face of content when you were pointing a gun at a random stranger. Now, I was used to guns being pointed at me. It came with life, especially in this world. But what made me nervous was the fact that he clearly didn’t know what he was doing. He looked frantic, though he did try to put on a brave face, and his hands were shaking; and that’s when I saw the gun was fake. 

I couldn’t help but let out a light chuckle as I let my arms fall to my sides. The guy looked at me like I was crazy and demanded that I give him all the food and water I had. Again, I chuckled. I walked away and headed towards my small store beside my shack.  
“I need to cook up this rad roach before it goes bad. Want some?” I called over my shoulder. And that is the lovely meeting between Bradly Munch and his two children. 

Apparently, the small community they were at became overrun with ghouls. They were lucky that their small shack that they were occupying had an old bomb shelter from before the Wasteland. They hid out for a few days and when rations started to go wear out, they escaped. 

They’ve apparently been traveling for weeks. When they ran out of reserves, the dad scouted ahead and stole supplies from loners; threatening to shoot with his “gun” if they didn’t. Half didn’t realize and gave in to his demands while the other half did and ran him off, escaping with only a few scrapes and bruises. 

“Still, I am very sorry for threatening you. I just...” he couldn’t finish his sentence, guilt and shame taking over. “I remember stealing when I was a young man. But that was when I was on my own, no family to take care of, nobody to worry about. But that was years ago and I’ve changed. Found a wonderful wife and gave me two wonderful children......” he trailed off, lost in thought before he continued, “My wife was part of our raiding squad in our community. She and a few others would leave for a few days every month to hunt and find us supplies.... she never came back. Raiders.” I could see his face getting upset at the memory. “They never stole from anyone! They found only abandoned sights and bartered with travelers. They even brought people to join our community but they never stole anything!” He couldn’t help but let a few stray tears in his anguish. I didn’t comment and he didn’t ask for comfort. So, I let him sit in his memory, giving him only another person’s presence for comfort. 

When we both went back to our sullen silence, watching his children play worry free for what probably felt forever, I stood up and went inside without a word and came back with some whisky. One of my lucky finds is finding alcohol. Most times it’s used for treating cuts and wounds, but sometimes it’s needed for times like this. I sat back down next to him and handed him a half glass. He took the glass hesitantly. 

“You guys can stay till for as long as you need. You can’t stay forever, but I’ll give you food, lodgings, even a nice shower for some work. Till you guys get back on your feet.” I offered. 

“Thank you. I can’t help but take you up on your offer.” He looked around at my property. “I would be lying if I said it never occurred to me to stay here with my children, but there is actually another community a few more days from here. There’s a trader that would come by every few months that told us about a community a lot like ours. I think that would be best for us.” 

I couldn’t help but smile. “I couldn’t agree more.” We sat there in silence, sipping on whiskey as the children played with the animals till the sun went down. I barricaded my shop, set up traps around the shop and around my shack with a stern warning to the children and father not to go outside until I have to disable the traps. I gave a quick tour of my shack and put the children to bed. The moment their heads touched the pillows, they were dead to the world. I dragged an extra bed into the kids’ room so he can stay close to his children. I could tell that even though we posed no threat, I was still and stranger he knew absolutely nothing about me. Understandable. You’d have to be a real idiot to trust the first person to show you a little kindness. Not in this Wasteland.

I bid them farewell a few days later. After the father helped me fix my backup generator and had a few extra hands to help tend my garden, the Munch family decided they were well enough to continue their journey.

With some rations, some homemade sleeping bags and a “real” gun to defend himself and his children, the three of them left with some color back in their cheeks and a bit of life in their eyes. I watched them leave till I could see them no more. When I was sure they were gone from my sight, I went back inside to my makeshift office downstairs. I pulled out a piece of paper and some lead I had stored and sat down at my desk. This is a ritual I feel I must do every time I meet a new stranger, a new story…maybe even a new friend.

So, I wrote their story, with as much detail as I could remember, and hope that maybe I will be able to add to their story.


	2. Second Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alley's rule of "Everyone is welcomed" wasn't always there.

"Arnie, please stop drinking all my boose..." asked very politely.

"Go fuck yourself." he gruffed back at me as he took another swig of the vodka. When he first came in, he grabbed it from behind the bar before he got comfortable and sat down.

I couldn't help but sigh. "Alright, let me ask in a language you understand." I swiftly took out my makeshift knife from the holster I always keep at my hip and held it against his throat. Arnie froze. I didn't need to press hard against his throat; Arnie knows from past experiences that I wouldn't hesitate to kill someone."Arnie. Please stop drinking all my fucking boose." I kept my voice cool and was hoping that I wasn't forced to slit his throat. I honestly was just not in the fucking mood today. Arnie continued to glare at me as we kept eye contact. I could see he was struggling not to kill me on the spot, and I could see that it pained him a bit to concede and slide the bottle of vodka over towards me. I gave him a grateful smile and took the bottle of vodka away from him. I show him a little bit of reward for following my rules, I took the vodka he was drinking and poured a normal glass for him and put the bottle away. Without saying a word he took the glass and took a normal sip; a complete difference than the chugging he was doing earlier.

"Now, I know you're an asshole Arnie but you are usually pretty decent when it comes to following my rules. What's going on?"He was silent for a good long while. For a few minutes I thought he was gonna ignore me and continue to just stare at the bottom of his glass. Until he whispered out, "I think I might leave the raiders..."

I couldn't help but widen my eyes a bit, but I kept silent. I didn't want to break whatever thoughts were flying through his head."They killed a child. We raided a small caravan travelling east from Diamond City. I thought it was gonna be a normal simple raid. Grab the stash and kill the survivors. And we did...but their was a little boy with them. He looked about 3 years old." He paused like he was reliving the incident. I continued to stay quiet."I have no quarrels about killing. I've slaughtered hundreds of people myself getting the supplies we need; sometimes even just for the sake of it. But something about killing a child.....it never sat right for me. If I'm being honest...I never thought much on it. My team didn't even hesitate to shoot him in the head." He chugged down the rest of the vodka in the glass, slamming the glass down. He stared at the empty glass, not really seeing it in front of him as his mind continued to be lost in his own thoughts and memories. I poured him another glass, but honestly I don't even think he noticed."The others weren't even fazed. They continued like it was just another raid, but....I can't keep that child's face out of my head. It's different when it's a child. Despite everything else we've done....I've always had a personal rule about killing kids."

We once again were swept into silence.I was serious when I said that anyone was welcomed here. Even raiders. Though not often. They had trouble keeping to my rules. No violence. No stealing. No shit talking. I've always wanted this to be neutral ground for everyone. A place for the people of the wasteland to stop and just breathe. Somewhere they can just relax and not worry about the troubles in their lives.

Raiders were definitely an issue. If I'm being honest, when I first decided to make this place a small rest area for the people of the Wasteland, raiders weren't allowed. They plunder, they murder, they rape, and they are vicious. I didn't want them anywhere near my place and the people within it.That changed when I went on my monthly hunting trips.

I had Charlie with me to help carry some of the kill and help me fight off creatures I couldn't handle on my own. I was cracking the shell of a bofly when Charlie ran off. I went after her only to find a heavily injured man bleeding to death. When I realized the situation he was in, I didn't hesitate to try make a makeshift carrier out of the nearby branches and dragged him back to my place.I patched him up and kept his fever that he developed down as best as I could. I knew the basics of medicine and anytime I come across a doctor I always make sure to ask questions, but I was no medic. He finally woke up after two days when his fever broke.He was very weary of me at first, as he should be, but when it became clear that I wasn't going to hurt him, he finally relaxed. He didn't talk about what happened or what he does or where he lives. When he was finally able to move around without any help, I gave him some fresh water along with some food to travel with. I'll never forget the face he made as he stared at the provisions I gave him. Like the thought of someone handing him food without asking for anything in return was unheard of. With a nod of his head, he finally headed out.

I didn't really give him much thought after that. I continued on with my life.A few weeks later I was tending to a few of my cattle when I noticed a figure in the distance. When it got closer I noticed that it was a man running towards me. I was even more surprised when I realized it was the man I treated a few weeks ago. He stopped in front of me, out of breath. I took in his appearance as he composed himself, he seemed to be in better shape then when I last saw him; Younger, deep blue eyes, coal black hair with some color back in his face. Although it seems he was running for awhile so maybe it was for a different reason.

When he finally caught his breath, he finally looked at me, and it was panicked."Raiders are coming to take everything. They'll be here in two days. You need to leave!"

"Wait what?" My brain apparently wasn't catching up with what was going on. I could only stare at him confused.

I saw his shoulders stiff in resolve but also slumped in defeat. "Raiders are coming because I told them about you...."

I was stunned. My brain was working to catch up to the events that were transpiring in front of me. He took my silence as permission to continue."I'm a Raider from the Spikers gang. I was left for dead when we were ambushed by a rival gang. When I came back, they cornered me to ask them how I survived and who healed me. They just.....wouldn't let it go. So I told them. They decided to raid your property for the supplies and livestock and...." he trailed off looking away. He didn't need to finish that statement. They would kill me. And if they don't do it right away, torture and rape me before ending it. 

I shivered at the thought.He could see the moment I realized his unspoken truth, he actually looked ashamed. "You didn't know me, or what I've done or what I was...but you helped me. Nobody's.....ever done that for me before. It's why I sneaked out and came here as fast as I could; to warn you to pack what you can and run. I owe you a debt and I intend to repay it."

"Even though it was your fault I am in this situation in the first place." I couldn't help but point out.

He didn't deny it.

I couldn't help but sigh. I can't say I wasn't pissed and slightly panicking, he did come to warn me...and I still have a few days."Come inside. I'll get you some water." I offered as I walked inside.

"We can't think about that now! You have to get out of here before they reach the property!" he warned at me, eyes wide in panic. When he saw that I wasn't reacting to his statement, he continued. "Why aren't you panicking!?"

"Because if I have two days. That's enough time for me to radio the Minutemen for help. They should be here by tomorrow." I stated.

He didn't know what to say to this. He actually looked surprised.

"I live on my own, strangers are constantly staying at my place, I have plenty of supplies and I've done my own favors in helping the Minutemen. Of course I'd make sure their was a base close to where I live. I may be generous, but I'm not stupid." I couldn't help but be just a bit insulted that I wouldn't think of this. I mean, common sense. C'mon.

He seemed taken back for a moment and actually a little lost. I couldn't help but give another sigh. He's a goddamn raider for fuck's sake, why does he look like a dejected puppy!?

"C'mon. We have at least an hour or so to have a drink before we set up." And with that, we headed inside, sat down with a drink and talked.

He found himself questioning if being a raider was the best chance for him. I tried to give my best opinion I could without putting my own bias on it (though I referred to them as assholes...and dipshits...and lil'cunts....okay so maybe my bias was there).

He helped me set up my traps all around my property. It certainly wouldn't stop them, but it'll slow them down enough to get the upper hand. He finally decided to leave when I got contact that Minutemen reinforcements were on the way. He didn't want to go back to his gang, but he sure as hell wasn't going to the Minutemen. In the end, he left. The Minutemen came, we wiped out the invading raiders, and I never told the Minutemen who really told me that I was getting attacked.

I came back to the present and looked at Arnie, his mind also far away. Raiders were despicable, and needed to be dealt with. But as long as they keep my rules on my property, I have no qualm. Because the ones that stop by relent to my rules, are also the ones with the potential to change. I want to give those raiders a chance to make the right choice. And sometimes, they needed to be reminded that you didn't have to maim and kill to survive in this world. They just need a chance to see it.

After a few more minutes, I finally broke the silence. "It sounds to me, my friend, that you've already decided what you wanna do."

He didn't answer me at first, but when he was ready, I could see his shoulders sag in defeat. "What the fuck am I supposed to do? Where the fuck should I go?"

I stared at Arnie with hesitancy, I weighed the pros and cons and I finally go in the back of my little bar and come back with a map of the Commonwealth; drawing a map for him and circling.

"This is the settlement Sanctuary. Its a few days walk from here but it's a good size settlement for people to start over with. I have a friend stationed there. MacCready. He does mercenary work. That's somewhere to start. The people their should help you set up with shelter, food, and someway to earn your keep."

I looked up from my lap and leveled him with a hard stare. "Now I'm gonna warn you once and only once Arnie. That settlement was where the Minutemen was restored. It has guards and turrets all around so if I here a whiff of raiders infiltrating that settlement and it's from your old gang, I WILL send the Minutemen after you and I will go with them so I can personally shoot you in the head. Do I make myself clear?"

He was silent for a moment, but he eventually nodded. From then on, we discussed safest way to get their and places where he could stay to rest where he can stop for the nights. I offered for him to stay the night, saying he should get some sleep before he starts the journey. He agreed. Early the next morning I sent him off with a few caps, some food, water and a sleeping bag. Arnie shook my head, said a silent thanks, and headed on his way.

Just like all my other guests, I waited for my guests to fade into the background before I head inside. But just before I turn the handle, a bark from Charlie makes me swivel around. Walking up to the front porch was a member of the Minutemen with coal black hair and dark blue eyes.

I couldn't help but smile. "Hey stranger, want a drink?"


End file.
